scholarly journals Children’s Work in West African Cocoa Production: Drivers, Contestations and Critical Reflections

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dorte Thorsen ◽  
Roy Maconachie
Keyword(s):  
West Africa ◽  
Social Development ◽  
West African ◽  
Potential Harm ◽  
Different Ages ◽  
Cocoa Production ◽  
History Of ◽  
Global Concern ◽  
Children’S Work ◽  
Critical Reflections

Cocoa farming in West Africa has a long history of relying on family labour, including children’s labour. Increasingly, global concern is voiced about the hazardous nature of children’s work, without considering how it contributes to their social development. Using recent research, this paper maps out the tasks undertaken by boys and girls of different ages in Ghana and how their involvement in work considered hazardous has changed. We show that actions to decrease potential harm are increasingly difficult and identify new areas of inquiry.

The Royal African Company of England's West African Correspondence, 1681-1699

1993 ◽  
Vol 20 ◽  
pp. 173-184 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robin Law
Keyword(s):  
West Africa ◽  
Sierra Leone ◽  
West African ◽  
Gold Coast ◽  
Original Form ◽  
Cape Coast ◽  
General Terms ◽  
West African Coast ◽  
African Coast ◽  
History Of

This paper draws attention to an ambitious project in the publication of source material for the precolonial history of West Africa, which has recently been approved for inclusion in the Fontes Historiae Africanae series of the British Academy. In addition to self-promotion, however, I wish also to take the opportunity to air some of the problems of editorial strategy and choice which arise with regard to the editing and presentation of this material, in the hope of provoking some helpful feedback on these issues.The material to be published consists of correspondence of the Royal African Company of England relating to the West African coast in the late seventeenth century. The history of the Royal African Company (hereafter RAC) is in general terms well known, especially through the pioneering (and still not superseded) study by K.G. Davies (1957). The Company was chartered in 1672 with a legal monopoly of English trade with Africa. Its headquarters in West Africa was at Cape Coast (or, in the original form of the name, Cabo Corso) Castle on the Gold Coast, and it maintained forts or factories not only on the Gold Coast itself, but also at the Gambia, in Sierra Leone, and at Offra and Whydah on the Slave Coast. It lost its monopoly of the African trade in 1698, and thereafter went into decline, effectively ceasing to operate as a trading concern in the 1720s, although it continued to manage the English possessions on the coast of West Africa until it was replaced by a regulated company (i.e., one open to all traders), the Company of Merchants Trading to Africa, in 1750.

African American Journalists in World War II West Africa: The NNPA Commission Tour of 1944–1945

2021 ◽  
pp. 002190962110549
Author(s):  
Oliver Coates
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
World War Ii ◽  
West Africa ◽  
American West ◽  
West African ◽  
Gold Coast ◽  
Washington Dc ◽  
World War ◽  
History Of ◽  
Political Economic

The National Negro Publishers Association (NNPA) Commission to West Africa in 1944–1945 represents a major episode in the history of World War II Africa, as well as in American–West Africa relations. Three African American reporters toured the Gold Coast, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Liberia, and the Congo between November 1944 and February 1945, before returning to Washington, DC to report to President Roosevelt. They documented their tour in the pages of the Baltimore Afro-American, the Chicago Defender, and the Norfolk Journal and Guide. Their Americans’ visit had a significant impact in wartime West Africa and was widely documented in the African press. This article examines the NNPA tour geographically, before analyzing American reporters’ interactions with West Africans, and assessing African responses to the tour. Drawing on both African American and West African newspapers, it situates the NNPA tour within the history of World War II West Africa, and in terms of African print culture. It argues that the NNPA tour became the focus of West African hopes for future political, economic, and intellectual relations with African Americans, while revealing how the NNPA reporters engaged African audiences during their tour.

Systematic revision of the living African Slender-snouted Crocodiles (Mecistops Gray, 1844)

Zootaxa ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 4504 (2) ◽  
pp. 151 ◽  
Author(s):  
MATTHEW H. SHIRLEY ◽  
AMANDA N. CARR ◽  
JENNIFER H. NESTLER ◽  
KENT A. VLIET ◽  
CHRISTOPHER A. BROCHU
Keyword(s):  
West Africa ◽  
Central Africa ◽  
West African ◽  
Valid Species ◽  
Morphological Evidence ◽  
Systematic Revision ◽  
Current State ◽  
History Of ◽  
Living Species ◽  
African Form

Molecular and morphological evidence has shown that the African slender-snouted, or sharp-nosed, crocodile Mecistops cataphractus (Cuvier, 1824) is comprised of two superficially cryptic species: one endemic to West Africa and the other endemic to Central Africa. Our ability to characterize the two species is compromised by the complicated taxonomic history of the lineage and overlapping ranges of variation in distinguishing morphological features. The name M. cataphractus was evidently originally based on West African material, but the holotype is now lost. Although types exist for other names based on the West African form, the name M. cataphractus is sufficiently entrenched in the literature, and other names sufficiently obscure, to justify retypification. Here, we designate a neotype for M. cataphractus and restrict it to West Africa. We resurrect M. leptorhynchus as a valid species from Central Africa and identify exemplary referred specimens that, collectively, overcome the obscurity and diagnostic limits of the extant holotype. We additionally indicate suitable neotype material in the event the holotype is lost, destroyed, or otherwise needing replacement, and we rectify the previously erroneous type locality designation. We provide a revised diagnosis for crown Mecistops, and revise and update previous descriptions of the two living species, including providing both more complete descriptions and discussion of diagnostic characters. Finally, we provide considerable discussion of the current state of knowledge of these species’ ecology, natural history, and distribution. 

The Garvey Movement in British West Africa

1980 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 105-117 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. L. Okonkwo
Keyword(s):  
West Africa ◽  
West African ◽  
Colonial Rule ◽  
Long Term Effects ◽  
The West ◽  
Universal Negro Improvement Association ◽  
History Of ◽  
American Blacks ◽  
Garvey Movement ◽  
African Nationalism

The paper seeks to present new information concerning the activities of the West African branches of Marcus Garvey's Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League. The author has included biographical profiles of the British West African Garveyites to integrate the Garvey movement into the history of West African nationalism and Pan-Africanism.It is argued that Garveyism was welcomed in British West Africa by the older cultural nationalists who saw Garveyism as an extension of Blyden's ideas. Pan-African sentiments of racial unity and solidarity of African and American blacks, pride in the history of the race, and self-help projects had wide circulation in West Africa from the latter part of the nineteenth century, as a result of Blyden's influence. Joining the branches of the U.N.I.A. was a practical demonstration of a long-standing commitment to cultural and racial nationalism among the West African elite.The Garvey movement also marked the beginning of a new era in West African nationalism. Garvey's radical pronouncements on freeing Africa from colonial rule were unacceptable to the older cultural nationalists who dominated the Garvey groups. They disavowed any interest in organizing a central nation for the race. However, Garvey's ideas may have had long-term effects. By the 1930s the idea of independence from colonial rule seemed more attractive to the West African nationalists. Garvey was one of the first to speak out boldly for freedom from colonialism.The concrete achievements of the West African branches of the U.N.I.A. were small indeed. Nigeria had the most Garveyite activity in British West Africa. There was an agent for the Black Star Line in Lagos and a branch of the U.N.I.A. and A.C.L. The Gold Coast had the least Garveyite activity, probably because of their involvement in the National Congress of British West Africa and also because of their more critical attitude towards co-operation with American blacks. They believed that Africans were best qualified to lead any joint efforts for intra-racial co-operation.

The Empire of Ghana

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nikolas Gestrich
Keyword(s):  
West Africa ◽  
Archaeological Site ◽  
West African ◽  
Oral Traditions ◽  
Historical Sources ◽  
14Th Century ◽  
History Of Research ◽  
Western Sahel ◽  
History Of ◽  
The City

The Empire of Ghana is one of the earliest known political formations in West Africa. Within the context of a growing trans-Saharan trade, Arabic sources begin to mention “Ghāna,” the name of a ruler as well as of the city or country he ruled, in the 9th century. Repeatedly named in connection with fabulous riches in gold, Ghāna had acquired a preeminent role in the western Sahel and was a leader among a large group of smaller polities. Ghāna’s influence waned, and by the mid-14th century its ruler had become subordinate to the Empire of Mali. Over the course of a complex history of research, the Empire of Ghana became equated with the Soninké people’s legend of Wagadu and the archaeological site of Kumbi Saleh in southern Mauritania was identified as its capital. Yet between historical sources, oral traditions, and archaeological finds, little is known with certainty about the Empire of Ghana. Most questions on this early West African empire remain unanswered, including its location, development, the nature and extent of its rule, and the circumstances of its demise.

scholarly journals The Middle East and Brazil

2015 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 102-107
Author(s):  
Philipp Bruckmayr
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
South America ◽  
West Africa ◽  
Political History ◽  
West African ◽  
Diplomatic History ◽  
American Power ◽  
The Face ◽  
History Of ◽  
Arab States

The title at hand is a valuable and timely edited volume that sheds light onthe economic, political, literary, social, cultural, religious, and historical connectionsbetween Brazil and the Middle East. Whereas the Middle East in thisrespect primarily means the area historically referred to as bilād al-shām (i.e.,Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, and Israel), the book also tackles the historicallinkages among Brazil, Muslim Andalusia, and West Africa. Structurally,the volume is divided into three parts, which are preceded by anintroduction by the editor.Part 1, “South-South Relations, Security Politics, Diplomatic History,”includes five papers, the first four of which are more or less straightforwardtreatments of political history/science. Paul Amar sketches the dynamic strategicchanges in policy toward the region and hegemonic American power duringthe early presidency of Dilma Rousseff (2010-13) in the face of majorchanges in the Middle East that rendered her continuation of the “handshakepolitics” that her predecessor Lula had extended toward the now-crumblingdictatorial regimes unfeasible. In the following chapter, Paulo Daniel EliasFarah discusses one of the fruits of Lula’s endeavors: the formation of theSummit of South America-Arab States in 2003. He situates this diplomaticconcord within a long history of contacts between Brazil and the Arab/Muslimworld as well as the transnational flows of forced and free migration, as epitomizedby the presence of enslaved West African Muslims and then, later on,Syro-Lebanese settlers in Brazil.Carlos Ribeiro Santana’s contribution sheds light on Brazil’s pragmatismin fostering relationships with the Middle East to secure its oil supplies againstthe background of the energy crises of the 1970s. This thread is also pickedup in the following paper by Monique Sochaczweski, which details how thesevery configurations caused Brazil to abandon its “equidistance” policy ...

scholarly journals The Export Competitiveness of Ghana’s Cocoa Industry in West Africa

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 80
Author(s):  
Alhassan Abukari ◽  
Tan Cunfeng
Keyword(s):  
West Africa ◽  
Comparative Advantage ◽  
West African ◽  
Downward Trend ◽  
Cocoa Beans ◽  
Regression Framework ◽  
The World ◽  
Export Competitiveness ◽  
Cocoa Production

Ghana in the year 1911 became the world’s largest exporter of cocoa. However, cocoa export in Ghana nearly came to standstill in the 1970s as a result of the outbreak of swollen shoot disease of cocoa. Ghana since then has not been able to rejuvenate its cocoa export as expected. The years 1999 to 2018 have witnessed a downward trend in the export of cocoa in Ghana. This raises questions of whether the phrase “Ghana is cocoa, and cocoa is Ghana” is still valid. The study attempts to analyze the competitiveness of Ghana’s cocoa sector vis-à-vis its neighbors. In doing so, the authors calculate the Revealed Comparative Advantage (RCA) and Revealed Symmetric Comparative Advantage (RSCA) for Ghana to compare with other West African exporters of cocoa and assess the determinants of Ghana’s cocoa exports. The authors adopt a regression framework to explore the determinants of cocoa exports. The results revealed that Ghana is highly competitive in the export of cocoa beans. The study attributed this advantage to the quality of the cocoa beans Ghana exports. The results further showed that Ghana’s cocoa production volumes and the World consumer price of cocoa beans were the major determinants of the volume of cocoa beans exported in Ghana. The study concluded that although Ghana enjoys a comparative advantage in the export of cocoa beans, Ghana’s cocoa production volumes fluctuate thus affecting the volume of cocoa exported. Ghana, therefore, needs to invest in new hybrid climate-smart cocoa cultivation to boost production and export.

scholarly journals Did the ancient Egyptians migrate to ancient Nigeria?

2014 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jock M. Agai
Keyword(s):  
West Africa ◽  
20Th Century ◽  
Ancient Egypt ◽  
West African ◽  
Samuel Johnson ◽  
Early 20Th Century ◽  
African History ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Subject

Literatures concerning the history of West African peoples published from 1900 to 1970 debate�the possible migrations of the Egyptians into West Africa. Writers like Samuel Johnson and�Lucas Olumide believe that the ancient Egyptians penetrated through ancient Nigeria but Leo�Frobenius and Geoffrey Parrinder frowned at this opinion. Using the works of these early�20th century writers of West African history together with a Yoruba legend which teaches�about the origin of their earliest ancestor(s), this researcher investigates the theories that the�ancient Egyptians had contact with the ancient Nigerians and particularly with the Yorubas.Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: There is an existing ideology�amongst the Yorubas and other writers of Yoruba history that the original ancestors of�the Yorubas originated in ancient Egypt hence there was migration between Egypt and�Yorubaland. This researcher contends that even if there was migration between Egypt and�Nigeria, such migration did not take place during the predynastic and dynastic period as�speculated by some scholars. The subject is open for further research.

The Dilemma of Press Freedom in Colonial Africa: The West African Example

1968 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 279-298 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fred I. A. Omu
Keyword(s):  
West Africa ◽  
West African ◽  
Press Freedom ◽  
Great Effort ◽  
The West ◽  
Nationalist Movement ◽  
Essential Ingredient ◽  
Political Tradition ◽  
The Press ◽  
History Of

One of the most striking features of the African nationalist movement is the great effort that was made to safeguard the freedom of the press. As British subjects, most of whom were trained in Britain, educated Africans assumed that they were entitled to enjoy a free press, which was an essential ingredient in the British political tradition. Their newspapers were almost unavoidably highly critical, and colonial administrators sought to control them. A variety of factors contained official repressive enthusiasm, and these provide the key to the relatively small number of press prosecutions and the seeming reluctance to enforce press legislation. The situation is illustrated from the history of the early nationalist newspaper press in former British West Africa.

Muslim Brotherhoods in West African History

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mauro Nobili
Keyword(s):  
West Africa ◽  
18Th Century ◽  
West African ◽  
The Novel ◽  
African History ◽  
Lake Chad ◽  
History Of ◽  
Independent States ◽  
European Colonialism ◽  
Colonial Government

Muslim Sufi brotherhoods (ṭuruq, sing. ṭarīqa) are ubiquitous in contemporary Islamic West Africa. However, they are relative latecomers in the history of the region, making their appearance in the mid-18th century. Yet, Sufism has a longer presence in West Africa that predates the consolidation of ṭuruq. Early evidence of Sufi practices dates to the period between the 11th and the 17th centuries. By that time traces of the Shādhiliyya and the lesser-known Maḥmūdiyya are available between the Atlantic Ocean and Lake Chad, but it was the activities of the Kunta of the Qādiriyya and of al-ḥājj ‘Umar of the Tijāniyya that led to the massive spread of Sufi brotherhoods in the region. The authority of leaders of ṭuruq did not disappear with the imposition of European colonialism. In fact, the power of those leaders who adjusted to the novel political situation further consolidated thanks to their role as mediators between their constituencies and the colonial government. Eventually, the end of the colonial period did not signal the decline of ṭuruq in West Africa. Conversely, during the postcolonial years, Sufi brotherhoods continued flourishing despite the secular nature of West African independent states and the increasing tension with a plethora of equally rising Salafi movements.

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